My Darling Mayhem
: Chapter 25

The night came back in flashes as the dead weeds crushed under my boots.

Kingston’s amber eyes as he sipped from a glass. Its contents mirrored that color that reminded me so much of Wren. He stared at us, glaring while we talked.

The memory of when Kyle walked through their door, Juan on his heels. Thistle and I had walked in after, but Juan’s two sons didn’t even pay any attention to us. Their only focus was Kyle James, and the man seemed to know it as he gave them a sardonic smile.

“Boys, seems like you fucked up.”

Gio leaned forward like he couldn’t believe he was being blamed. “Us?”

I was already annoyed that this was the jumping off point. The two boys sitting on the couch smoking weed while they watched a UFC fight.

Fuck them. My kids and my woman were in danger, and fuck if they were going to sit here and wage war with me while my dad moved in close to them.

I walked over and kicked the coffee table in front of them so all the shit on it flipped over.

Kyle smiled, leaning against the edge of the couch.

“Yeah, you fucked up by going after him. But it seems we had ourselves an imposter at that game where the territory was being gambled. Mr. Green, the true president, had no knowledge of the trade.”

Their gazes hadn’t left me, their hands were on their guns, but Thistle was behind me with one trained on them. Juan seemed withdrawn like he didn’t want to watch if his kids were about to get shot. Couldn’t say I blamed him.

The one with blue eyes, Gio, had leaned forward to sip his drink. “Not our problem.”

Kingston remained stoic, staring into his liquor that he held off to the side, on the back of the couch. There was enough space between it and where Gio sat.

I pulled my gun out and shot through his glass. The shards hit his face and splattered against the wall.

Gio jumped up and screamed, “Are you fucking crazy?”

Kingston scowled at me as he tossed the remainder of the glass in my direction.

“Get the fuck up and answer these questions,” I ordered. They wouldn’t respect anyone who wasn’t a fucking monster to them. Fine by me.

Kyle surveyed them both. “It just became your problem. Archer intends to join the family, which means we owe him a second chance. A new deal.” Kingston flicked his amber eyes up, inspecting me as though I’d produce something of value at any moment.

“What kind of deal?”

“How about one where you apologize by leaving my territory the fuck alone.”

Kyle smirked and let out a small laugh. “That won’t work.”

He stood and began pacing in front of the overturned coffee table. “We keep the territory. We go back to pushing what we did when Juan led. No more bullshit. In exchange, we let him and everyone in his club live. We also help him kill whoever the fuck the man was who impersonated him all those years ago.”

Gio produced a vape pen from his pocket while shaking his head before sinking back into the couch. He must have forgotten there was glass, because he lifted his hand with a wince and cursed.

“This isn’t our problem. We don’t need this motorcycle club bullshit in our way. It’s easier with them gone, and while I love your angel wings, Daddio, we’re not doing that shit again. We made triple what you did on these routes.”

Juan’s jaw was tense, his eyes deadly as he glared at his son. King seemed to return the sentiment with the way he stared at his brother.

I expected Kyle to speak up, but it was Juan who quickly stepped in front of the boys.

He flexed his fingers and then he smacked Gio’s face, so the vape pen flew from his mouth. Kyle’s phone was out, and he tossed it over to Juan, who caught it without even looking. I couldn’t see what was on the screen, but as Juan pushed it in front of his sons’ faces, it had both boys going ghostly pale.

“Not your problem?” He shoved the phone closer. “He’s circling our property as we speak. How long before he goes traipsing through the woods, until he gets closer to our home? Do you know who else is home right now?”

Gio looked away, but Kyle lunged forward and grabbed his jaw until his eyes were back on the screen.

“Presley is home. Your mother is home. Your sister. Your grandmother. And we are here. So, tell me if you think it’s a problem or not.”

Kingston muttered a curse while pulling out his phone. Gio glared at the screen before shaking his head.

“We’ll agree to the terms. His club is safe,” Kingston said, glancing at his device and then at me.

Kyle stayed where he was. “Get it all in writing. Call everyone off who’s currently out. No one goes after him or his men. We’re allies from here on out. He’ll respect the route, but no harm will come to them.”

“Fine,” Gio sourly agreed while pushing away from the couch, and pulling on his jacket.

We’d left shortly after that, Thistle and I following their car at a speed that had us arriving in half the time.

The sound of a snapping branch brought me back to the moment.

Thistle was next to me, but he froze when the branch snapped. It was early morning after we rode through the night from New York to North Carolina. We had no idea if we’d make it in time, but I hoped Juan alerted whoever needed to be notified so that everyone remained safe.

My stomach churned. Something was off. Thistle felt it too. I could tell from how he gripped his gun and kept his eyes on the dense tree line. Then we heard it. A loud crack from a gun.

It was far enough away that I knew it wasn’t anywhere in our immediate vicinity. Still, I slowed my steps, searching around. The trees were thin enough that I could easily see several yards away. Kingston, Gio, Juan, and Kyle were in the forest with us, all approaching from a different angle because based on their intel my father, fucker that he was, had entered through some forest that connected to their property.

Another shot rang out, echoing from the north. We started toward it, only to hear another shot ring out, then another. All from what sounded like a rifle of some kind.

“Do you hear dogs barking?” Thistle glanced over, looking nervous.

Shit. Dogs wouldn’t know if we were friend or foe; they’d just know our scent wasn’t familiar and likely tear the fuck into us. I was about to panic when Kingston suddenly ran toward us as a large black dog approached.

It immediately started growling and barking.

“Rex,” Kingston snapped, followed by a quick whistle. The dog’s ears and snout lifted, as though he responded to the command. Rex seemed to heel, trotting next to Kingston’s side, right as another dog darted for us.

“Fuck. You might have to shoot him, which will mean that Scotty might shoot you in return. I’ll do what I can, but if the dog seems like he’ll attack then you need to shoot.”

I didn’t want to shoot a dog. My eyes bugged the fuck out as the second dog barreled toward us, only to pull left with his ears lifted. The dog named Rex followed him, while I heard several people running.

Adrenaline hit my chest as the scenario finally played out for me. These dogs were chasing someone; the shots were aimed at an enemy.

My dad was here. He’d made contact somehow, and now they were after him. Was it merely because he’d trespassed or had something happened?

“Kingston!” a man yelled, running toward us while his arm was raised, a black assault rifle pointed directly at us.

Kingston reared back until he was watching a man break through the trees.

The man with the gun wasn’t even breathing heavily; he was merely focused intently on us.

“Are you with him?” he asked, directing the barrel of his gun at my patches.

Thistle lifted his hands as if surrendering. “With who?”

Kingston spoke up on our behalf. “Scotty, they’re with us. What’s going on?”

The man gave us one last once-over before searching the surrounding woods with a frantic gaze. “Male, late fifties. Stocky, white hair, tattoos, patches, leather cut like theirs.” He gestured at us. “He took a kid. The kid that came with your aunt.”

No.

I stepped forward, my heart tangled in my chest as it tried to push out of my skin.

“Which kid?” Not that it made a difference, but I needed to know how panicked Wren was. If he had Cruz then I’d imagine she would be behind this man any second, tearing into the tree line, looking for him. Unless something happened…

The man regarded me and then did a double take. “He your son?”

Kane. A lump was in my throat as I replied, “My brother.”

“Will this man hurt him?” Scotty asked as two of the dogs circled back to us, their tongues wagging from their mouths as they tried to cool down.

I pictured Brit and when I’d been the one to identify her body because her family couldn’t do it. I thought of my mom and how I was too young, but I’d also been in the morgue with her as well. “Yes, he’ll hurt him.”

Scotty lifted his gun and spit something to the side. “He has exactly four minutes on us. We need to spread out and replace him.”

Kingston fell into step next to him as we turned and started moving, my mind feeling like it was outside my body.

“Who else is out here with us?”

Scotty fell into a light jog, answering the twin. “Your mother. Your sister and Carter are in the Jeep, trailing up the far side of the tree line.”

Where were Wren and Cruz?

Kingston must have someone else he was concerned with too because he fell into a run next to Scotty. I hadn’t even realized I was jogging to keep up with them.

“Where is⁠—”

Scotty turned, snapping at him. “She’s guarding the woman and her son in the house.”

Relief found a tiny place in my sternum. She was safe, which meant all I had to do was focus on Kane.

We ran in a singular direction as the dogs led us until we came to a clearing in the trees, and there was nothing but a blonde-haired woman wearing a faded blue dress, the hem muddied and torn. She clung to Juan as he hugged her, and then Kyle was on his phone, pacing around, while a gun dangled from his hand.

“What happened?” I pushed forward. Thistle was right behind me, but the longer I was around these people the more I felt like they were less of a threat and more of a terrified family. I’d brought the devil to their door, but perhaps this wasn’t their first time dealing with one.

The woman was breathing hard but faced me with a grim expression.

“We lost his trail.”

Juan pulled the woman back into his chest.

“What do you mean, wasn’t he headed straight through the tree line?” I glanced at Kyle who was talking to someone. Scotty’s jaw flexed while he scanned the surrounding area.

“Directly through. His men were taken out; it’s just him and the kid. He couldn’t have gone far.”

Yet the dogs whined as though they couldn’t pick up his trail. My stomach spasmed with fear as the thought of losing my brother hit me in full force. What if I found his body in the woods? What if Saul wanted to send a message to me, sick fuck that he was, and decided to use a five-year-old little boy to do it. I had to think.

Pulling up my phone, I slid through my contacts, discerning our timeline. He had men with him they said had been taken out. I could ask Thistle to call Ruth and see if she could pull up satellite images, but we were on Juan’s property…and Kyle’s. However, the fuck that worked. It didn’t seem like they’d ever allow themselves to be put in a position to be hacked into.

Kyle was suddenly yelling at someone through his phone. I heard bits and pieces before he lowered his arm, glancing over at me.

But it was Scotty who spoke up after checking his cell.

“She left the boy with his grandmother in a panic room.”

Kyle and Scotty locked eyes.

Kingston searched both their faces and all it did was remind me his twin still hadn’t resurfaced. “I thought Presley was watching them.”

Scotty spoke up again. “Presley took the woman⁠—”

“Wren. Her name is Wren,” I cut in, because calling her something as generic as a woman was making me insane.

“Presley took Wren, they left five minutes ago.”

Fuck.

“Which direction did they go in?” That came from Kingston, even though I was thinking it.

Scotty slid his gun onto his back with a thick strap showing over his chest. “They went through the tunnels.”